Exploiting a natural voting experiment we identify female preferences for real policy issues in the electorate. We then analyze whether female or male politicians in parliament more closely correspond to female preferences. Holding constant revealed constituent preferences, there is generally no...

Based on probit estimates, this paper analyzes the effects of fiscal consolidation on the proba-bility of sovereign defaults in the short run. Using a panel of 104 developing countries from 1980 to 2009 and controlling for various economic, fiscal and political factors, we find that fiscal...

Tourism and air transport are among the sectors most affected by the Covid-19 crisis. The pandemic lasting more than a year is reflected in short-term effects in both sectors, but there are also severe long-term consequences. National authorities will have to set recovery plans following the...

We study the cyclicality of public R&D in 28 OECD countries (1995 - 2017). While procyclical on average, public R&D reacts asymmetrically over different phases of the business cycle and becomes acyclical during recessions. It is also heterogeneous across countries: Innovation leaders and...

In several empirical contributions researchers have found a gender gap in preferences for public spending. This paper analyzes the persistence of these gender gaps when income differences between individuals are taken into consideration. Using survey data from the years 1996 and 2006 of German...

We investigate the future of human longevity, morbidity and health costs in a novel, multi-period OLG model with endogenous medical R&D and endogenous survival. Our calibrated model implies substantial future increases in longevity that are associated with both reductions in morbidity and a...

This paper presents a two-sector small semi-open economy Ramsey growth model involving foreign aid as an input in the production function. An activist government allocates this input endogenously across sectors and optimizes policies in a non-standard way. Once calibrated, mainly on countries...

The paper focuses on the recent pattern of government expenditure for developing countries and estimates the determinants which may have influenced government expenditure. Using a panel data set for 111 developing countries from 1984 to 2004, this study finds evidence that political and...

We disaggregate government spending into five macroeconomic-relevant components: average wage, employment, purchases of intermediate goods and services, investment and transfers. We set up a simple RBC model with only search and matching frictions in the labour market to show that these...